


Just Your Typical College Experience

by NutterZoi



Category: Night World - L. J. Smith
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:21:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28146030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NutterZoi/pseuds/NutterZoi
Summary: "And you're my roommate through sheer coincidence?"
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Just Your Typical College Experience

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hhertzof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/gifts).



_"See you next year, with slain dragon!"_

Mary-Lynette looked around herself at the college campus, so far from Oregon and Briar Creek that it might as well have been a different planet. Where Briar Creek was a one gas station town, MIT was walking distance-- _walking distance!_ \--to Boston. Light pollution made nightly stargazing impossible, of course, but it wasn't the worst price to pay for a killer astrophysics program, and besides. She could take the Amtrak to Maine or the commuter rail out to less populated areas of Massachusetts, and if she missed the stars sometimes, she didn't have to miss them _all_ of the time.

She supposed it wasn't that strange that she would think of Ash right now. It had been just over a year since he'd left her in Briar Creek to let her finish school and to start trying to make up for some of the things he'd done. She wondered if that was where he'd go to look for her. She couldn't imagine him finding her here.

"Mary-Lynette!"

She turned to see her new roommate waving at her as she crossed the courtyard in front of the student center. She waved back, smiling at her. Rashel was pretty, with dark hair and the kind of grace that reminded Mary-Lynette a little of Ash and his sisters. She might have believed the other girl _was_ one of them if she hadn't been so familiar with the sisters.

She shook her head a little at herself. Enough vampire thoughts. It was a sunny August day, and she was meeting her college roommate at the student center for lunch. Not worrying about her vampire extended family and her vampire soulmate, and when she was going to see him again.

"How were your first classes?" she asked as she and Rashel went into the student center together.

"Basic," she admitted, pushing through the second set of doors. She gave Mary-Lynette a wry smile. "I guess even at MIT you have to get through the gen eds before you do anything exciting."

"Astronomy 100 is going to be kind of a snooze-fest," she agreed. "But I get it. You have to put in your time at the lower levels before you can move on to the more interesting stuff."

Rashel shrugged. "Seems like it," she agreed. "And it's not like there's _nothing_ interesting happening. Anyway, lunch--I'm starving. Japanese or Subway?"

~*~

They settled pretty quickly into a routine, and while Mary-Lynette didn't really _stop_ thinking about Ash and his promise that he'd see her in a year, she didn't let it consume her thoughts either. She had classes to attend, and she was _going_ to make an effort to be social. She hadn't in Briar Creek, but there she'd felt like an outsider--a solitary nerd in a sea of people who didn't get her. Here, she was _surrounded_ by other nerds.

She didn't have any classes with Rashel--most of her roommate's classes were in the School of Humanities, rather than the School of Science. Technically, as first years, both of them were undeclared, but Mary-Lynette already knew she'd be studying planetary science and astrophysics, while Rashel's interest was in the Humanities. That was fine, though. They spent plenty of time together outside of class, between meals and sharing a room. There were more than enough people in the dorms who complained about their roommates, but Mary-Lynette and Rashel were becoming fast friends. She tended to be pretty serious, but had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor that reminded her a bit of Kestrel.

Mary-Lynette watched Rashel get ready to go out for the evening--apparently, she had a boyfriend, who actually lived nearby enough that they were able to see each other pretty regularly. Mary-Lynette was _not_ jealous or envious. At all.

"So how did the two of you meet?" she asked. She couldn't remember if she'd heard the story yet.

"Hmm? Oh--uh. At work. I had a job in high school, and we met there. Hit it off like gunpowder."

She laughed a little in surprise. "That's not usually a _positive_ description."

Rashel smirked over her shoulder at her. "Well, we didn't really like each other much when we met. I'm pretty sure there were times that we both wanted to absolutely murder each other."

Mary-Lynette laughed again. "Seems like it worked out all right eventually."

"Eventually," she agreed. She finished tying her hair back and glanced sidelong at Mary-Lynette. "So what about you?"

"What about me what?" she asked with a smile. "Have I ever wanted to absolutely muder someone? No, not that I can remember." A part of her remembered Jeremy and her smile flickered briefly. But no--she had never _wanted_ him to die.

Rashel gave her a wry smile, like she was reading her mind, something Mary-Lynette was sincerely glad she _couldn't_ do. "No. A someone special."

Her smile turned to a grimace. "I have an 'it's complicated,'" she admitted. "With a longer story than I can tell right now when you're on your way out the door."

Rashel nodded. "Another time, then. Don't wait up."

Mary-Lynette waved her off. "Don't worry. I have a date with my textbooks. I'll be asleep way before you get back."

"Sounds thrilling." Rashel grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. "See you later."

"Have fun."

Rashel grinned sharply. "Always."

~*~

Mary-Lynette had fallen into a light doze (she wasn't _technically_ waiting up for Rashel, but there was too much big sister in her to sleep soundly before her roommate had returned) when she started awake at the sound of a thump from outside the window. She frowned a little. It was probably frat boys--there were colleges and universities all over Boston and there were enough young people doing stupid young people things that she didn't think that much of it.

She got up from her bed and crossed the room to pull the blinds back and see who was throwing things at the dorm windows. Before she'd done more than pull back the blinds, though, the glass from the window shattered inward. Mary-Lynette stumbled backward in shock as something--some _one_ \--hurtled through the third story window.

He stood up and advanced on her, shaking the glass out of his hair and clothing, and when she saw his face--his _teeth_ \--she screamed. A vampire. A _vampire_ had come through her window and was looking at her with murder on his face.

She scrambled toward the door, ignoring the glass under her bare feet. She had to get out of here, Into the hallway. She'd be safe with other people around, and someone had surely heard the commotion.

He was faster, practically materializing between her and the door to the dorm room. "Don't fight," he told her. "I'll make it quick."

She didn't believe that for a second, and glanced over her shoulder. There had to be something she could use to defend herself.

And then someone _else_ flew in through the window, and Mary-Lynette couldn't even scream, because they were followed immediately by a _third_ person.

_Well, of course,_ she thought a little giddily, knowing her reaction was probably shock. _This might as well happen._ The two newcomers put themselves between her and her attacker. They were both dressed in black, and one of them had an actual _sword_ in one hand.

The resulting violence was brief, and ended almost faster than she could follow, with the sword--a _wooden_ sword, apparently--in the vampire's chest. He shriveled quickly to a dried out mummy, which looked more familiar than Mary-Lynette liked to think about. She looked between the two remaining people in black and the door. She might be able to make it. The one still had to get their sword out of the vampire.

She dashed to the door, fumbling with the knob.

"Wait--Mary-Lynette!"

She froze with her hand on the knob. She knew that voice. She turned, and the sword-wielder was unwinding a scarf from around their face. It was Rashel. She stared.

"I can explain," Rashel said, holding her hands out. "Will you let me explain?"

Mary-Lynette laughed, a little more sharply than she had intended. "Sure. Go ahead. Explain that you're a _vampire_ hunter and you just staked a vampire in our dorm room." Oh, god. _Ash_. Did she know about Ash? The sisters? She felt the bottom drop out of her stomach, and sat down abruptly on the floor next to the door as her legs gave out.

Rashel picked her way carefully through the glass and took a seat on her own bed. "I'm a vampire hunter," she agreed. She glanced at the person with her, who sighed and pulled off his own mask. He was handsome. Of course he was handsome. Why wouldn't he be? "This is Quinn."

She felt her jaw drop and her heart start to pound again. Quinn? The stickler for Night World Law that Ash had had to lie through his teeth to so that he wouldn't investigate Briar Creek any further? That Quinn?

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his tone careful. "I'm here to help."

"He's my soulmate."

That explained a lot, and she was starting to get a headache. Rashel opened her mouth again, but Mary-Lynette put a hand up to stop her from continuing. "Stop. I can't--we need to take care of Teeth, here. Can we talk once he's taken care of? Please?"

Rashel and Quinn exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Yeah. Someone will be in soon to check anyway. We can talk after."

~*~

It took longer than Mary-Lynette wanted to get things sorted out. Quinn vanished with the body, so at least they didn't have to explain _that_ , but there was still the matter of the broken window and the glass all over the floor. It took over an hour to explain the "rock" to the RA, and then to the police, and then to get resettled into a hotel room for the night. By the time they were there, she was exhausted.

But they still weren't done for the evening.

Rashel settled herself cross-legged on one of the hotel beds, facing Mary-Lynette. She took a breath. "First of all, I'm sorry I wasn't honest from the start. I should have told you sooner, but 'Hi, I'm Rashel, and I'm a vampire hunter with a vampire soulmate' doesn't exactly fit on the roommate introduction card."

"Right," Mary-Lynette said slowly. "So…"

"So… Hi. I'm Rashel. I'm a vampire hunter with a vampire soulmate."

Mary-Lynette let out a short laugh. "And you're my roommate through sheer coincidence?"

"...No," she admitted. "I'm your roommate because we're part of Circle Daybreak, and they thought it would be a good idea. You know… in case someone tried something like what happened tonight."

"Why--I'm just an astronomy student! Why would the Night World care about me?"

"Mary-Lynette." Rashel's voice was surprisingly gentle. "You're not 'just an astronomy student.' I know about Ash. You're special. There are forces in the Night World that have been going after the soulmates of Redferns and Harmans. Daybreak thought it would be best to keep an eye on you, just in case. And I'm glad they did." She smiled a little at her. "I like you. I like being your friend. I would have missed that, if we hadn't had the chance to meet."

A tension Mary-Lynette hadn't realized she'd been carrying eased inside her. They were friends. _Real_ friends. It hadn't been just an act to be close to her. "I would have too," she admitted. Then paused. "Well. I would also have been dead."

Rashel laughed. "That too," she agreed. "So… we're okay?"

"We're okay." Mary-Lynette smiled at her. "And I guess I don't have to explain my 'it's complicated' anymore, do I? Which is good, because honestly, I'm exhausted and I should have been asleep, like three hours ago."

The other girl threw a pillow at her. "Go to sleep. Hopefully they fix our window by tomorrow. With unbreakable glass."

" _Aquarium_ glass," she grumbled. "I don't want another surprise like that."

"With wooden shutters," Rashel agreed. "And silver filigree. Goodnight, Mary-Lynette"

She smiled a little to herself, glad she had Rashel to help her plan security. "'Night, Rashel."

~*~

By Thanksgiving break, Mary-Lynette was starting to finally feel secure again. Rashel had armed her after the attack, and she never went anywhere without the special knife she'd been given. She didn't like the idea of using it, but she would if she had to. Rashel had been ruthless in her self-defense lessons.

She shouldered her bag and locked the door to the dorm room behind her. Rashel was already gone for the holiday to spend the break with Quinn. They would probably spend the time helping Circle Daybreak, and hunting vampires, and eating turkey or… whatever. She, on the other hand, was flying back to Briar Creek to spend the holiday with _her_ family, and she _definitely_ wasn't thinking about Ash's continued absence.

She left the dormitory and started walking toward the Charles. She wasn't sure yet how far she wanted to walk, but she wasn't quite ready to get on the train. Maybe she'd stop on the way for coffee at Dunks--a habit she'd picked up over the past few months of college in Massachusetts. She turned toward the student center. She still had time before she had to be at Logan.

She emerged from the student center with an iced coffee and started heading toward Mass Avenue again, then stopped in her tracks. He was back to her, but there, by the sculpture of the Alchemist, was a familiar form. Blond hair. Casual pose. Her heart flipped in her chest. 

_Ash_.

He turned toward her and his face lit with a smile. "Hey, sweetheart. Sorry I missed my deadline. Can I give you a ride?"

Damn it. How was that the stupid, perfect thing to say?

"Yes. And you better have the seat next to me on the plane, too. We have a lot to catch up on."

He stepped toward her and took her hand. "We really do. I've missed you."

"Me too." She leaned in to kiss him. The sparks didn't bother her at all anymore.


End file.
